Mark, the Babysitter
by Sugarbubbleslove
Summary: Zoe has fallen ill and Mark is the only one available to look after her…


Title: Mark, the Babysitter

Characters: Mark/Zoe with hints of Mark/Maddy

Rating: Teen

Disclaimers: I do not own anyone/anything from the forum Terra Nova. Fox owns Terra Nova and its characters. There is no copyright infringement intended. I do not make any profit/money or take any credit.

Summary: Zoe has fallen ill and Mark is the only one available to look after her…

Timeline: Any time after The Runaway

A/N: This idea came to me from wanting to see a scene where Mark has to babysit Zoe in the actual series and a little plot bunny latched on it. Betaed only by me (all mistakes are mine).

Mark, the Babysitter

"Reynolds!" Mark stood to attention when he heard Alicia Washington's voice cut through the room he was in. He had been given the day off but unfortunately, Maddy had already made plans with her parents for the day so he had decided to use the day to take it easy. He was planning on catching up on with his friends when Alicia had made her over to him.

"Ma'am?" he asked.

"Stand down," she ordered him and he relaxed his stance before looking at her curiously. "You're not busy, right?" He frowned.

"Er no, Ma'am?" he asked.

"Good, cause I have a job for you," she told him before she lifted up her data pad. "Zoe Shannon has fallen ill at school. Her parents and her sister are currently outside the gates at the moment while her brother is working and is unable to take the time off which leaves…only you."

"Me?" he asked, alarmed. He hadn't really spent any time with the younger member of the family, mostly because the family was still wary of people around her. Habits were a hard thing to break after all.

"Yes," she confirmed, arching an eyebrow as Mark sputtered. "Is there a problem, Reynolds?"

"Wouldn't she be better off at the medical facilities?" he asked.

"But you are available and you know the family so the girl should feel safe with you," Alicia informed him before narrowing her eyes as Mark opened his mouth to form another protest, "How about this? You look after the girl until her parents come back and I won't tell the elder daughter that you researched dinosaurs for hours in hope of impressing her."

Mark felt his jaw snap close, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

"…Low blow," he finally muttered, unable to form a retort. Alicia just grinned broadly as she clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Good choice," she told him. "She is still at the school, go ahead and pick her up." She started walking out of the room before she turned around, shooting Mark a mischievous smirk. "Think of it as practice for when you and the Shannon girl start having kids." Mark gaped after his superior, blushing heavily as she laughed, leaving the room altogether.

~_MTBS_~

Mark finally came to a stop at the door outside the school, squaring his shoulders and taking a deep breath. He couldn't believe how nervous he was. He had interacted a few times with the younger member and she seemed to like him but then again, there was always someone else around to ease the tension.

He opened the door and stepped in to see Zoe was sitting on one of the plastic chairs. She looked miserable Mark felt his heart go out to the young girl. First she got the cold, now she had a stomach bug.

Zoe's eyes lifted when she heard someone enter and a spark of recognition flashed in her eyes when she spotted Mark.

"Mr Reynolds?" she queried quietly. Mark smiled as he moved closer, kneeling down so he was at the same level.

"I'm here to take you home and I'll look after you until your parents come home, is that ok?" he asked. Zoe stared at him for a short moment before she nodded shyly, a small smile playing on her lips.

Mark stood up as a woman came out of the office and she smiled warmly.

"You must be Mark Reynolds," she told him. He nodded. "Lieutenant Washington told me that you would be stopping by to pick up Zoe, but I'm afraid I need ID first." Mark pulled out his ID card and handed it to the woman.

She took it and scanned it on her data pad. She tapped a few buttons before she nodded, satisfied as she handed him the card back. "It's just a stomach bug so she should keep hydrated. Hopefully it will pass by tomorrow."

"Thank you." Mark bowed his head slightly before he turned to face Zoe to see she was already standing. He held out a hand, "Ready to go home?" Zoe nodded as she slipped her smaller one into his.

Zoe waved goodbye to her teacher while Mark lead her out into the sunlight. They made the path toward the Shannon's house. Occasionally, a hand would go to Zoe's stomach as her face would turn slightly green but she had managed to keep her nausea under control.

Once they entered the room, Zoe dropped Mark's hand and ran toward the bathroom. Mark hurried after her, slowing when he heard the sound of retching. He sighed, slipping into the bathroom to find Zoe was sitting on the floor, her head resting against the cool porcelain of the toilet.

Mark grabbed the cloth and ran it under the warm water before he knelt down and wiped her mouth. The side of his hand brushed against her cheek, he pressed his other hand against her forehead, alarmed to find it was really warm.

"You are warm," Mark frowned as he thought about what they had been taught at basic first aid. "Do you want to try a cold bath?" Zoe nodded miserably and Mark nodded. "Ok, can you find your pyjamas and I'll run the bath for you." Zoe slowly got up and made her way out of the bathroom.

Mark turned to the bath, putting the plug in and turning on the cold water, adding warm water to make sure it wasn't too cold.

Zoe came back a few minutes late with a small bundle of sleep clothing in one arm and a dinosaur, one that Mark recognised she made herself when she had been ill with the cold, tucked under her other arm.

He took them, placing them on the counter so they wouldn't get wet before he looked at Zoe, who was in the midst of removing her shoes.

"Are you okay to get in the bath yourself?" he asked and Zoe nodded. "Alright, I'll be right outside. Just let me know when you're ready to come out and I'll bring in the towel." He backed out, closing the door. Zoe turned to the bath, removing her clothes and eagerly climbed in.

Zoe sighed in relief as the cold water cooled her overheated skin. She splashed herself with it; she had heard her mother say when someone was feeling really hot; they needed to make sure they got the cold water all over their body to help them.

Once she felt cooler to the point she was beginning to shiver, she was about to call for Mark when her stomach rolled once more. Clambering out of the bath, she hurried over to the toilet where she was sick again, whimpering when her stomach hurt.

She heard the door open and a warm towel wrapping itself around her body, helping to ward off the chill. She lifted her face once she stopped being sick, allowing Mark to wipe her face once more.

"Thank you, Mr Reynolds," she told him as he knelt down next to her, rubbing her back. She leaned in, wrapping wet slim arms around his neck, startling him before he embraced her back. She pulled back, giving him a sweet smile.

"If you want, you can call me Mark," he told her. She stared at him for a moment before she tilted her head slightly.

"Mark," she tried out before she giggled. Mark just grinned as he finished drying her off, he gave her the toothbrush and she cleaned her mouth out. He then handed her bedclothes to her. He helped Zoe get into them.

"Feeling better?" Mark asked once she was dressed in her pyjamas. Zoe gave him a smile, nodding. "Do you want to go to sleep?" he grabbed the dinosaur, handing to Zoe who promptly brought it to her chest.

"No, I don't feel tired," she told him.

"Do you think you can eat something?" Zoe shook her head, her lips curling in a wince as her stomach rolled, rebelling against the thought of food. "Maybe some crackers?" he tried to tempt. "You don't want to go through the day without eating and it might help."

"Okay," she whispered, lifting her arms up in a silent plea to be held. Mark lifted her up and she rested her head on his shoulder as he walked out of the bathroom.

They made their way into the kitchen and he sat her on the counter while he looked for the crackers.

"They're in that cupboard over there," she pointed to the cupboard behind Mark. He gave her a quick smile, opening it to grab the crackers. He grabbed a plate, placing it on the counter and put two crackers on it, not wanting to overload her.

Zoe picked one up, taking a careful nibble, waiting for the urge to be sick again only to be pleased when it didn't come. She took a bigger bite of the cracker, still being careful.

"What your family usually do when you're sick?" Mark asked, curious. He didn't know if the family had something they usually did.

"Maddy holds me and plays with my hair," Zoe told him. "Mommy and Daddy like to rock me to sleep and Josh plays his music but Maddy is mostly the one who takes care of me."

"Does Maddy look after you a lot?" Mark asked, curious when it came to the girl he liked. Zoe nodded.

"She likes playing with me. She thinks up all these games for us to do and she reads to me," Zoe listed off. Mark had a small smile on his face as he listened to Zoe. "Sometimes she bakes and she lets me help."

"Sounds like fun," he told her, slightly wistful. He hadn't really seen Maddy babysit Zoe because they were usually together and Zoe was with her parents or they were all over here, taking turns in entertaining Zoe.

"Maddy likes you," Zoe suddenly said and Mark looked at her, startled. "She smiles a lot when someone mentions your name. You make her happy so that's why I like you." Mark smiled at the adorableness conviction in the young girl. He reached over and tweaked her nose, eliciting a giggle out of her.

"I like you…and I like Maddy too," he told her and she nodded, giving him a bright smile. She finished off her crackers, pushing the empty plate toward Mark, who took it and gave it a quick wash, placing on the drying rack.

He picked up Zoe and walked over to the couch, settling her down on it before he spotted the button on the table that allowed him to bring up a screen that acted like a TV for the family when they wanted to watch something.

"Do you want to watch a film?" Mark asked.

"Rio!" she told him. Mark frowned, not sure of the name before he pressed the button. The screen came up and he scrolled through the film selection until he found the one Zoe wanted to watch.

He settled down on the couch, grabbing the blanket. He was about to shake the blanket out when Zoe shifted so she was pressed up against his side, her head resting on his chest. He looked down at her to see she was already engrossed the movie before he smiled softly, shaking the blanket out so it covered them.

He grabbed a cushion, shoving it behind his head so he wouldn't a crick in the neck, he looked toward the screen only to arch an eyebrow when he the blue parrot was talking and wondered what he had just let himself into.

~_MTBS_~

Alicia paced the ground in front of the gates, waiting for the commander and the Shannon family to show up. She had finally managed to contact them and told them to head back to the base as soon as possible.

"Ma'am!" one of the lookout soldiers shouted down. "A rover is coming!" Alicia lifted her head and sighed with relief when the Rover neared the gate.

"Open it!" she stood to the side as the gates slowly rose up to permit entrance to the rover. Once it came to a stop within the base, the gates lowered and the door to the rover opened, revealing Commander Taylor, looking healthy and in one piece, much to her relief.

"Finally!" exclaimed Alicia the Shannon family came out of the rover. They frowned at her. "We got a call from the school saying Zoe had fallen ill. Since we couldn't contact you and Josh was working…"

"Is she alright?" Jim cut in, worried. Alicia nodded.

"She's fine; it's just a stomach bug. The teacher said another student had the day before and she thinks it passed onto Zoe."

"Who's looking after her?" Elisabeth asked. Alicia cut a wry look at Maddy for a moment before she directed her attention to the mother once more.

"Mark Reynolds, he was the only one available and I volunteered him," she informed him. Taylor arched an eyebrow at his second in command at the 'volunteered' part and wondered what blackmail she used on the young man to make him do her bidding.

Usually any children who had fallen ill and their parents weren't around, they would be sent to the medical facilities so they would be looked after properly.

"Reynolds, the guy who likes Maddy, right?" asked Jim. Maddy rolled her eyes behind her father's back. He had met Mark a few times but he still liked to pretend that he hadn't met the guy, or that the virus that messed with people's memories was still affecting him.

"There is only one Mark Reynolds on this base," Alicia dryly informed him with an arched eyebrow, much to Elisabeth, Maddy and Taylor's amusement while Jim just shrugged, unashamed of making the kid's life difficult.

"How long ago was this?" Elisabeth asked. Alicia checked her watch.

"Nearly five hours now," she informed the older woman and Elisabeth nodded as she looked at her husband.

"We should get home to relieve Mark. He'll probably be worried that something has happened to us since it took longer for the communication to reach us," she told him.

"Mom's right," Maddy cut in, glaring at her father when he opened his mouth, smirking mischievously. Disgruntled that his daughter had obviously read his mind and derailed him, he nodded.

"Fine, we'll go home and see if the kid is still in one piece," he told them. Taylor snickered as Elisabeth and Wash shared an amused glance before rolling their eyes. Maddy just pushed her father before she stalked past them, intending to get home.

"You should try being nice to the kid," Taylor suggested to the father, shrugging when Jim looked at him. "He does care about your daughter and he's a very good soldier." He nudged his head in Wash's direction, who was currently watching as Elisabeth caught up with her daughter. "Wash adopted Reynolds as a brother; trust me, if Wash trusts him with Zoe, then that's good enough for me." Jim sighed.

"But it's fun to scare him," Jim muttered as he walked away. Taylor just stifled a smirk, shaking his head as Wash came to stand next to him.

"It's nice to have you back unharmed for once, sir," Wash cheekily told him. Taylor laughed.

"Any trouble?" he asked, assuming command and Wash shook her head as they both headed up toward the command tower.

The trio bumped into Josh who yawned, grinning sleepily when he saw his family. He apologised for not being able to look after Zoe but his parents assured him that it was ok.

They entered the house only to stop when they spotted Mark was slouched on the couch, his legs stretched out. There was a cushion shoved behind his head so he wouldn't wake up with a crick in his neck. His left arm was wrapped around the young girl who was curled up into his side. A hand was fisted into his olive t-shirt and one of her stuffed dinosaurs was squashed between her small body and his larger one.

"That's sweet," Elisabeth whispered to her husband only to get a disgruntled look. She stifled her smile. She knew that her husband wanted to hate the boy for being sweet on Maddy, especially since Maddy was sweet on him but he was finding it hard to do so.

"We should get her into bed," Jim told them before nudging his head in Mark's direction, "And he should go to his bed before he ends up with a sore back." Josh nodded in agreement as he moved forward, slipping his arms under his little sister and he tried to lift her but he met resistance.

Frowning, he looked down at his sister curious to what was preventing him from lifting her up; he tried it again to see the man's arm tighten around her.

"Er…" Josh looked at his father, who frowned curious. "Every time I try and pick her up, he tightens his grip around her."

"Instinctive reaction," Elisabeth spoke up and all three of them looked at her. "Your father did the same whenever you fell asleep with him. It was his way of protecting you in his sleep." She smiled fondly at Jim as he cleared his throat, looking away. Josh rolled his eyes but he couldn't stop the grin from appearing.

Maddy had a soft smile on her face as she moved closer to the pair and reached out to wake up Mark. She put her hand on his shoulder and shook him gently, not wanting to startle him but she got no reaction. She patted his shoulder, calling his name but she got Mark shifting, groaning slightly before he went back to sleep.

"Mark." He felt a soft hand cup his cheek, another running through his hair. He slowly awoke, his eyes blinking before he spotted Maddy standing in front of him with a smile.

"Maddy?" he asked, confused before he felt a warm weight on his chest and remembered where he was. "I fell asleep?" Maddy nodded.

"So did she…but we kinda need you to let her go so we can put her into her bed," Maddy explained. Mark frowned before he realised that his arm was around the smaller girl's waist.

"Sorry." He removed his arm. Maddy shook her head.

"It's okay," she assured him before she watched as Josh gather up his little sister into his arm and was about to walk away only to stop. He turned his head to see that Zoe still had her hand clenched around Mark's t-shirt and rolled his eyes.

Maddy stifled her laughers as she reached out, a hand caressing Zoe's until Zoe let go of the material and latched onto Maddy's hand. Maddy moved closer and placed Zoe's hand onto Josh's shoulder, the material of his top immediately being wrapped up in Zoe's small fist.

Josh moved into her bedroom while Maddy helped Mark to stand up, watching as he stretched his arms over his head before he winced as there was crack, the sound of his back straightening. Jim winced as well, very aware of how uncomfortable the couch could be.

"Sorry for taking so long," Elisabeth told him apologetic. "We just got the message half an hour before we returned." Mark shook his head.

"It was fine. She did have a fever so I ran a cold bath, was that ok?" he asked. She smiled, nodding.

"That was fine," she assured the young man.

"How did you get into this situation in the first place?" Jim asked, curious for Mark's side of the story, he had a feeling that there was more to the 'volunteer' part. Mark sat down on the couch once more, pulling on his boots.

"One of the kids had a stomach bug and it passed onto Zoe. She was sick during an outing that they sent her back to the school and Lieutenant Washington gave me the job of babysitting her," Mark explained after finishing tying his shoes up. He stood up.

"How was she?" Elisabeth asked.

"She was sick twice but she managed to keep down some crackers. We pretty much ended up watching a Disney movie. I don't really remember what it was called but it had talking animals in it." Mark frowned as he tried to remember the name. "I think there was also singing and dancing." He looked a bit disturbed at the thought.

Maddy and Elisabeth fought their smiles while Jim just looked amused.

"Was she okay?" Jim asked and Mark nodded.

"I think she was better than me. This was my first time babysitting so she was pretty easy on me," Mark told him. Jim chuckled as he nodded.

"Then I'm sure you won't mind if you call you up to babysit more often," he teased. Mark just rubbed the back of his neck, giving him a shy smile.

"That's her in bed," Josh came out, yawning. "And I'm heading to mine, night." He gave them a short wave as he disappeared into his bedroom.

"Come on, I'll walk you home." Maddy tugged on Mark's arm. "You need to sleep in an actual bed." She frowned. "And I hope you don't get the bug."

"The doctors are sure that it's just being passed around the kids, none of the parents have ended up sick," Mark explained, allowing Maddy to lead him out of the door, giving a wave to Jim and Elisabeth as he did.

"Well?" Elisabeth asked, turning to her husband. He rubbed the back of his neck, grumbling under his breath before he sighed.

"Fine, he's not a bad kid," he muttered. Elisabeth just kissed him on the cheek before entering Zoe's bedroom to check that their daughter was still sleeping. Once she entered Zoe's room, she noticed that Zoe's eyes opened sleepily to see who was disturbing her.

"Hi mommy," she yawned.

"Hey sweetie," Elisabeth greeted as she sat down on Zoe's bed, a hand going to Zoe's forehead. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," Zoe murmured as she burrowed deeper into her bed, the covers tight around her. "Mark was nice." The older woman smiled.

"Did you have fun?" she asked.

"We watched Rio…I don't think he liked it much though." Zoe seemed concerned at the thought while Elisabeth fought to hold back her laugher.

"He's probably not used to those type of films," her mother told her and Zoe nodded, her eyes slowly closing and opening before she spotted her father standing in the doorway.

"Hi daddy," she greeted with a slow smile. Jim smiled as he moved in to the room, leaning to press a kiss to Zoe's forehead.

"Hey princess," he greeted. "Mark huh?" Zoe nodded.

"He said it was ok to call him that," Zoe explained. "He was fun…can he look after me again?" her parents smiled at the hopeful tone.

"We'll see," Elisabeth promised before she kissed Zoe's forehead. "Go to sleep, we'll see you in the morning."

"Kay," Zoe managed to slur out before she fell fast asleep. Elisabeth and Jim made their way out the bedroom, carefully closing the door behind them.

"Seems like he's working his magic on the Shannon women," Jim said. Elisabeth giggled as she bumped hips with Jim.

"He's a delightful charming young man who genuinely does seem to care for Maddy and he actually looked after Zoe, a young girl who he hadn't spent a lot of time with. You know Zoe, she doesn't warm up to people that quick unless she feels she can trust them." Jim nodded with each of his wife's assessment.

"I know, I know…but I still reserve the right to torture the boy who wants to date my daughter," he told her. Elisabeth just laughed, reaching up to kiss her husband's cheek before she went to check on their son.

Jim just shook his head, wondering if he had just agreed to be nice to a prospective son-in-law.

~_MTBS_~

"Are you sure you feel ok?" Maddy asked. "No nausea? Feeling hot? Shivering?" Mark smiled, amused.

"Maddy, I'm sure," he assured her and she nodded, deciding to believe him.

"I'm guessing you don't like Disney films much then, if animals singing and dancing freaked you out," she gently teased him. Mark rolled his eyes, shaking his head with amusement.

"I haven't had a lot of interactions with Disney films," he frowned, "and they didn't freak me out." Maddy giggled as she nodded.

"Ok," he shot a half-hearted glare and she laughed. "Was Zoe alright?" she bit nibbled her bottom lip and Mark nodded.

"She was fine," he assured her. "She pretty much put me at ease about what I was doing, even though I had no idea what I was doing." Maddy grinned.

"Well, I wouldn't be surprised if she wants you to be her regular babysitter," Maddy teased him before she pouted playfully. "I think I might be getting replaced." Mark laughed as they came to a stop at his door, turning to face Maddy.

"How about this, you help me the next time Zoe wants me to babysit her, this way we can both be her favourite," he suggested. A pleased smile curved Maddy's lips, her eyes sparkling with happiness before she nodded.

"Agreed…" her features turned thoughtful for a moment before she moved in closer. "Thank you." She rose on her tip-toes and pressed a kiss to Mark's cheek. When she pulled away, he stared at her with a slight blush on his cheek and she felt her own cheeks heating up. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Mark watched her walk away. Once she was out of sight, he raised a hand to his cheek, his fingers touching where she kissed him before he grinned broadly and entered his house, closing the door behind.

Unaware that Alicia had been watching the scene from a distance with a pleased smile playing on her lips. Sometimes, she loved her job.

The End

Yes – I love the idea of Mark having to babysit Zoe – maybe it will happen someday…


End file.
